Chapter 48: The Remaining Stele and Nine Diagrams

  Although he understood that there was a way out in the mountains, Ding Yan couldn't determine where that path was.

  After a long time of contemplation, Ding Yan swung his sleeve and obtained a small golden insect. This insect was called the Spirit Storing Insect, which could temporarily store a person's spiritual consciousness within it, making it perfect for scouting out roads and searching for treasures. Moreover, this type of insect was extremely common and could even be bought in the mortal realm, although those mortals did not know its true use and only treated it as a plaything to sell, because many royal families enjoyed fighting with them as a hobby.

  "Let's try probing first." Ding Yan moved slightly to the left, and a thread of divine sense attached itself to the Spirit Insect.

  The insects on the ground trembled slightly, then shook and crawled forward, soon disappearing into the fog. Then, Ding Yan sent a spirit insect in the same way to each direction.

  These spirit worms were all bought by Ding Yan before entering the Great Wilderness Mountain. With his past life experience and experience, Ding Yan naturally wouldn't venture into a dangerous place without any preparation.

  After about the time it takes to have a cup of tea.

  The spiritual connection on the first Spirit Insect was severed.

  Ding Yan picked up a withered branch and drew a mark in the direction of Zheng Dong.

  After a while, several more spirit insects died one after another.

  Ding Yan drew a mark in the direction each of the spirit worms went according to the law.

  "In that case, only the north is left." After a long while, after confirming that the last spirit worm was unharmed, Ding Yan finally dropped the withered branch in his hand and stood up to head in that direction.

  The trial and error method of the spirit worm, although there are many uncertain factors, but at present, there is no more stable way, so we can only follow this relatively feasible direction.

  Along the way, Ding Yan's consciousness condensed into a ball, constantly operating his heart method, guarding against his own consciousness being affected by the mist and losing self-awareness.

  A layer of fog, quietly covering everything.

  Nor did he know how long he had walked, but Ding Yan only felt a sudden brightness in front of him, and his feet were empty for a while. When he stabilized, he found that he didn't know when he was walking on a stone staircase.

  Looking up, there are about three hundred stone steps, extending all the way to the top of the mountain.

  "This should be the stone steps I saw outside the mountain earlier." Ding Yanyu thought to herself.

  Along the stone steps, carefully making her way up.

  Stone steps, nothing strange, half a cup of tea's work is just fine, Ding Yan finally walked to the top of the mountain.

  The mountain top is a small bamboo forest.

  A winding path made of cobblestones extended from the bamboo forest to the end of the stone steps. Ding Yan didn't rush into the bamboo forest, but instead spread out his spiritual sense towards it. However, as soon as his spiritual sense left his body, he discovered that there seemed to be an invisible pressure on this mountain that restrained his spiritual sense. With Ding Yan's strong spiritual sense, he could only extend its range to about ten meters around him, and any further would cause it to automatically dissipate.

  "Actually able to suppress the immortal sense......" Ding Yan thought for a moment, then stepped towards the bamboo forest.

  The small path paved with cobblestones was not very long, and Ding Yan walked for a short while before reaching the end.

  At the end of the path is a stone platform. On the platform, there is a stone statue. Not far from the statue, half of a stone tablet lies slanting on the ground.

  Ding Yan walked over and examined the stone statue.

  The stone statue was of an unnamed Taoist, with the appearance of an old man, long whiskers and a long beard, with a slender and elegant figure. His left hand was behind his back, while his right hand held a ruler, pointing straight into the void, his expression as if scolding the heavens. After observing for a long time, Ding Yan didn't find anything unusual, then turned to look at the half stone tablet beside him.

  The stone tablet was only half a block, but its contents were beyond Ding Yan's expectations.

  There are nine pictures on the monument.

  The first picture depicts a young man standing in the center of heaven and earth, gazing up at the sky above, where thunder is rumbling loudly! Apparently, the person in the picture is going through a tribulation.

  The second picture depicts a young man sitting in meditation outside a Taoist temple, with yin and yang manifesting behind him.

  The third picture shows a young man sitting under a tree playing chess with someone. His opponent is an old monk wearing a kasaya.

  And the fourth picture is painted with a sudden change.

  Everywhere in the picture are corpses, blood flowing like rivers, and ghosts wailing. In the sky above, thunder is rumbling...

  This painting has no protagonist.

  On the fifth painting, there is a large gate. On the gate, on the left and right sides, two huge skulls are carved. Above it, there is a signboard, but Ding Yan does not recognize the words on the board.

  The sixth painting depicts a middle-aged man standing in a void.

  The seventh painting depicts a monkey.

  The eighth painting is of a single blade of grass.

  The ninth painting is a stone statue, but the image is too blurry, and Ding Yan can't see who the statue depicts.

  Behind the nine paintings, there is this paragraph of text.

  The calamity of the masters, the calamity of heaven and earth, the calamity of the heavenly way, the calamities are heavy one after another!

  Ordinary people suffer, cultivators suffer, immortals suffer, all living beings suffer!

  What is the purpose of cultivating oneself throughout one's life?

  The end is another shore.

  The ninth enlightenment...

  The inscription breaks off here, and the remaining characters should be on the lower half of the broken stele.

  "This should be the time for one person to enlighten, unfortunately there is no remaining part......" Ding Yan's fingers slid over the words on the stone tablet, and he could still feel the intense Taoist thoughts lingering in it.

  It can be seen from this that the person who wrote it at first was of what a profound cultivation.

  Just as Ding Yan withdrew his fingers, the mysterious skull suddenly flew out of his sleeve. The left eye socket automatically flickered without Ding Yan's Xian Yuan support. A faint mark flashed across the crack on the skullcap, and a faint flame jumped in both eye sockets, followed by a beam of light that was imprinted on the stone tablet.

  That is a huge character "Dao".

  "This is... Regretful Transmission of the Law!" Ding Yan was shocked.

  Regretful transmission is an extremely profound method of transmission. Some strong practitioners, after falling, often use this method to prevent their skills from being lost.

  The requirements for initiating the transmission of residual thoughts are very simple, and only require holding the relics of those who came before. Once the relics reach a specific location, the consciousness remaining within them will automatically activate, transforming the residual thoughts stored within into a Daoist method that is transmitted directly into the mind of the holder.

  Looking at the character 'Dao' on the stone tablet, a sudden realization dawned on Ding Yan.

  Unconsciously, Ding Yan sat down cross-legged.

  A low-grade Daoist technique emerged from the memories of his past life in his hands.

  "No wonder I couldn't exert myself, it turns out I was using my strength wrong..."

  "No, no, if it were executed with a different technique, this move's power would likely be close to that of a mid-grade Daoist technique."

  "Who would have thought that Taoist magic could be used like this!"

  One after another, the Taoist spells were knocked out of Ding Yan's hands.

  As time went on, the incantation in Ding Yan's hand became more and more complex, and the time it took to cast was also getting slower and slower. In the end, Ding Yan even managed to bring out that incomplete seal incantation he had gained insight into from the Illusory Ninth Heaven...